In Your Head
by ScarletSutcliff
Summary: From the moment Timmy's mind poofed him into existence, Gary had loved him. Even when their connection faded, even for the five years that he was locked away in Timmy's brain, and even for whatever amount of time he spend on the island of unwished wishes he loved him. Inspired by DeathByInsomnia's story "Imaginary" and Alix R.S's story "Why don't you love me?"
1. Imaginary Gary

"Hey, Mom!" a five year old Timmy Turner called to his mother, happily running into the kitchen, "Wanna play Lego's? Look, I made a rocket ship!" The small child held up a chunk of piled together blocks. His mother smiled warmly, then pulled him out of her way.

"Sorry Timmy, but I've got dinner to make," She stirred a pot of what Timmy thought looked like wet grass. He gagged and ran to the living room before she made him taste test.

"Hey, Dad! Look at this rocket ship I made!" He held up the block again only to have it pushed away.

"Sorry, son, but I've got work to do," He refocused his camera on Timmy's face, "I don't have any footage of you eating your mother's lawn mower surprise!" Timmy cringed and sprinted to him room, his technology obsessed father too busy fiddling with the prerecorded Timmy footage to even notice.

"I wish I had a friend," Timmy sighed, slamming the door shut and slumping back against it. "He would be fun and cool and he would play Lego's with me!" Timmy closed his eyes and began to cry.

"Hey, Tim-Tim," said an smooth and unfamiliar voice, "I heard you're looking for a friend." Timmy looked up. The stranger was his height and weight, and had the same piercing blue eyes. The only differences between the two was his jet black hair and attire. Instead of Timmy's baggy jeans, t-shirt, and trademark pink hat, he wore skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, a red blazer, and stylish sunglasses. He was cool alright.

"W-who are you," Timmy sniffled. The other boy knitted his eyebrows. He knelled down and lifted Timmy's chin so their eyes would meet.

"Tears. Totally not cool," he scolded, wiping Timmy's tears away with the heel of his hand, "My name is Gary, I'm your imaginary friend."

"My... friend?" Timmy asked.

"That's right, Tim-Tim," Gary stood and smiled a dazzling white smile, "and with me around, you'll never cry again."


	2. Fading Gary

"Higher Gary, Higher!" Timmy giggled from his swinging throne. Gary inwardly laughed and outwardly obeyed, sending him higher with each push. Gary hadn't been with Timmy long but the two had already become the best of friends, maybe even something more. They would play games all day and talk all night. They were inseparable. One of Gary's favorite times was in the late afternoon when they would sit under the tree in their back yard and Timmy would fall asleep, his head resting in Gary's lap. Gary would take sections of Timmy's ratty boy hair and twist it between his imaginary fingers. Even at their young age, the connection they shared was clear, at least to the two of them it was, but as Timmy grew older, that connection began to fade.

"Hey, kid. What's your name?" A crooked toothed, blond boy asked. Timmy shrank back into Gary's chest, who put a hand on his shoulder defensively. Timmy's lonely childhood spent only with his imaginary friend had made him rather antisocial. "What's wrong? Can't you talk?"

"Chester, that's rude!" The African boy sitting on the other side of him chimed in, "I'm sure he can talk, maybe he just suffers from social phobia or social anxiety disorder, but that's highly unlikely considering that only about three percent of Americans actually suffer from true social phobia-"

"My name's Timmy," he interrupted, hoping to end this medical ramble. He had no idea what he was talking about, nor did he want to.

"Hi, Timmy! I'm Chester and this is A.J," The blond boy said, pointing to the smart, bald boy, "We're headed to the arcade after school, you wanna come?" Gary's hand tightened on Timmy's shoulder but Timmy only grinned, happy to be making friends. He loved Gary, but he couldn't help but wonder what friendship with a real person was like.

"Sure," Timmy said. Gary's hand fell loosely to his side.

"Tim-Tim, you don't know these people," Gary said protectively.

Timmy whispered over his shoulder, not even turning to look at him, "I'll be fine, Gary, I'll meet you back at home." And with that, Gary was alone in an empty classroom.


	3. Forgotten Gary

Timmy crept through the door, shoes in hand. This was the time of day where Gary and him usually took a nap, and he didn't want to wake him.

"Where ya' been, Tim-Tim?" Gary asked, shutting the door abruptly behind him. Timmy jumped.

"Gary! I was just out with Chester and A.J and we-"

"Yeah, I know. That's the third time this week. I'm starting to think that you don't want me around anymore," Gary interrupted, looking skeptical.

"No! Gary I..."

There were many days like this, days where Timmy and Gary would make plans and Timmy wouldn't show, leaving Gary alone in the baseball field or comic book store or arcade. Eventually the arguments stopped and Timmy's absence was normal, so normal that the day Gary disappeared, Timmy didn't even notice.

But Gary hadn't really disappeared. He was forgotten, locked away in the depths of Timmy's brain. His only company were old building blocks and the hairy green monster that they had vanquished long ago, and by vanquishing, Timmy later found out, just meant hiding that ugly green sweater under a large pile of dirty laundry. He only hoped that one day his best friend would remember him again and they could play and talk like they used to, but he was also angry. He was angry at Timmy for replacing him, he was angry at Timmy for ditching him, and he was angry at Timmy for forgetting him, but mostly he was angry at himself, for letting it happen. And so it went, day in and day out, for five years. Until finally, a miracle happened.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that these chapters are so freakishly short, I'm kind of puke writing right now and the real meat of the story isn't until the middle and end, so just hang in there! I appreciate it so much!**


	4. Freeing Gary

"Hey, Mom! Wanna play Surgeon General? It's a game where any ten-year-old can be a professional military surgeon!" Timmy held up a box with a very scared and very whole-filled Cosmo on the front.

"Hey, my bowls have been moved!" Cosmo shouted, but only Timmy could hear him.

"Oh, Timmy, I would love to play, but I'm waiting for the pie to bake," His mother excused, adjusting her pie hat and waving her pie flags, "Go pie, go!" Timmy looked condescendingly towards his father, who was carrying a lawn chair.

"Dad, do you wanna play?"

"Ooh, I'd love to Timmy," his father smiled, rousing a smile from Timmy as well, "but word on the street is your mom has front row seats to watch the pie bake!" He said, setting up his lawn chair directly in front of the oven. "Go Pie, go!"

* * *

Timmy sighed, "You know, it's days like this that I really miss Gary."

"It's days like this that I really miss my spleen!" Cosmo stated, poofing him and Wanda out of the game board.

"Who's Gary?" Wanda asked.

"Gary! You know, Gary! Remember? From the party," Cosmo paused, darting his eyes around the room, "Timmy, who's Gary?" Timmy pulled out a box from under his bed labeled Timmy's Stuff Age 5. He opened it. Inside were Lincoln Logs, Lego's, Jacks, and photo books. "What's all this stuff?"

"This is the stuff I used to play with when I was five," Timmy answered, scanning the contents of the box, he grabbed a crude drawing, holding it up for his fairies to see, "and this is my imaginary friend, Gary! He was cool. Before I had you guys, I used to play with him all the time," He grabbed the picture book and opened it, "There's me and Gary on the teeter-totter, and me and Gary getting ready to beat up the monster in my closet, and me and Gary in therapy!" Cosmo and Wanda looked concerned, "Whenever I was alone and needed someone to play with Gary was always there, and you guys could bring him here, I wish my imaginary friend Gary was real!"

* * *

Gary sat alone in the dark, listening to Timmy's thought's, like he did everyday. His thought's were varied, they ranged from to Francis (his least personal favorite), to Trixie (he hated her almost as much) to his friends (who he had actually come to like, considering that he was a part of Timmy). He had learned of Timmy's fairies and of there power. He had learned of Vicky and of Crocker. He had heard many of Timmy's thoughts, but this thought was different.

"He's thinking of me?" Gary wondered aloud. He was so happy and surprised that he could feel it. Or maybe it wasn't emotions that he felt, "What, what's happening?" His body stretched and contorted and spun. He let out a scream when he saw a burst of bright light. He blinked a few times and couldn't believe his eyes. He was back in Timmy's bed room.


	5. Real Gary

"Huh? What? I'm free?" Gary asked to no one in particular, "Finally!" He laughed, both relieved and excited. Then he saw him. He looked about the same as he did five years ago, only a bit taller, and maybe his teeth were bigger. No matter, he was still Timmy, and he was beautiful as ever.

"You?" He gasped, he was at a lose for words. He wanted to scream and shout but at the same time wanted to wrap Timmy in his arms and never let him go. He decided to play it cool, "It's you, Timmy. What's up, pink hat?" He winked, taking him all in.

"Gary! It's you!" Timmy wrapped his arms around Gary's neck. His throat closed up and his neck hairs stood on end. He pushed him away.

"Hey, whoa whoa, hey! Public displays of affection are not cool," he lied, dusting off the fuzzy and familiar feeling that Timmy's hug brought.

"Wow," Wanda gushed, "That's one cool kid."

"Of course he's cool! It's Gary! You know, Gary, from the wish, in the bedroom, we were all there. Gary!" Cosmo sighed, "Good times."

"Thanks Cos, thanks Wan," Gary said, dipping his comb into their fish bowl home then running it through his jet black hair, "Beautiful bowl you got here."

"I can't wait to ride bikes, play checkers, and fly kites with you!" Timmy said, rummaging through his toy box. Gary looked unimpressed.

"Kites, games," He narrowed his eyes, clearly angry, "checkers?" He wanted to yell at Timmy and ask him why he forgot about him, he wanted to have a full out temper tantrum, but he didn't. "Also not cool."

"What is cool?" Timmy asked innocently. Gary knew he should start winning Timmy back, but how?

"Dad, can we borrow the car? Me and Gary want to go to the arcade!" Timmy asked.


	6. Getting to Know Gary

And so Gary and Timmy fell back into their old routines. They played video games all day and made jokes all night. They didn't take as many naps, which upset Gary, but he didn't voice it. But on days that they did take naps, Timmy usually had something important to say. Today wasn't any different.

"Hey, Gary."

"Hey, Tim-Tim," Gary answered, twirling a lock of Timmy's hair between his now real fingers.

"Summer's almost over," he pouted. Gary tensed. He knew what that meant. The end of summer meant school would be starting soon, and school starting soon meant that Timmy would see his friends more, and Timmy seeing his friends more meant that he would start to forget about Gary again. Timmy noticed and grabbed his hand, sending chills up Gary's arm and down his spine. "I was wondering if you wanted to start coming to school with me, everyone can see you now, not just me." Gary was shocked. He had never thought of actually going to school.

"School," Gary smiled, "Cool."

* * *

They walked out of the doors to recess. The first half of the day went alright. A few admirable glances here and a few _Oh, he's cuuuuute~_'s there, but Gary only had eyes for Timmy, who, to Gary's relief, did not have any admirers, or so he thought.

"Hey, Timmy!" Chester called from across the playground, Gary hadn't seen him in a while. He was still blond as ever but his teeth were now in cased in shiny brackets. He was also holding a... opossum? Sure Gary had come to enjoy his company, what being trapped with only Timmy's good thoughts of him and all, but it was apparent in Chester's eyes that what he felt for Timmy was not what Timmy felt for him. He glanced over at Timmy, hoping to see that same dopey, platonic smile he always wore, but instead he wore the same love struck grin as Chester. Jealousy bubbled in Gary's stomach. He had just gotten Timmy back and he was not planning on losing him to Chester a second time. With love, Gary reached out a foot and tripped his beloved. _This hurts me more than it hurts you Tim-Tim_ Gary thought to himself. Timmy coughed up a large chunk of mulch. Not so attractive now, at least not to Chester.

"Wow, that's one cool kid," A.J, who Gary did not see as a threat, said.

"Opossums," Gary winked at Chester, "Cool." Chester's eyes went wide, then closed tightly as he fell to the groud in awe. _Gotcha_ Gary thought, then instantly got angry at him for forgetting abo ut Timmy so easily. Although he was mad, he also felt stangly... good. He wanted Timmy to pay for forgetting him. He wanted to strip Timmy's life away, later by layer, until only he was left.

And he planned to do just that.


	7. Popular Gary

By lunchtime, Gary had won over several of Timmy's friends. Most every girl in school had eyes for him, and even a few of the boys, Chester being one of them. He had followed him around nearly all recess and now he was busy making GaGa eyes at him from the next table over. Gary rolled his eyes, somewhat hoping that Timmy wasn't too upset about what had happened at recess. Not only had he starting capturing the attention of Timmy's friends, he had also snagged the eyes of a Misses Trixie Tang from across the room. Gary sent a smolder her way. She blushed and stood, walking over to... Timmy? Gary tuned his ears onto their conversation.

"Hi!" Trixie waved to Timmy. He turned around, as if expecting her to be talking to someone else. She turned his chin towards her, "No, Silly! I said hi to you!" If Timmy had a tail, it would surely be waging. Gary grunted. First Chester and now Trixie? Timmy had more admirers than he thought.

"Really?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah! Um, I know you've had a crush on me and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind-"

"Going steady? Taking you to a dance? Being sweethearts all throughout high school? Going to college together? Getting married? Remaining deeply in love as we grow really old together and spending our golden years traveling the world and extending our lifespans with the advanced technologies that will be available in the future until we eventually crumble into atoms and we're scattered across the cosmos where we'll float together for all eternity?" Gary had smoke coming out of his ears.

"Um, no. Introducing me to your cool new friend," she pointed to Gary. That bitch...

"A-and who wears pink hats anyways, huh?" Gary stuttered to his fans in an attempt to regain his cool.

"Alright that's it!" Timmy stormed up to Gary, pushing through the crowd of groupies, "Can I talk to you for a second... outside?"


	8. Jealous Gary

They made their way down the sidewalk, Gary faking a relaxed grin and Timmy wearing a scowl. Timmy shot a glare at Gary who turned to wink at the girls instead, causing Timmy to become even angrier.

"What's the deal? Ever since you've been here all you've been doing is winning over my friends, my family, and my not-girlfriend! I thought you were supposed to be my friend!" Timmy barked.

"Hey, hey. Whoa, whoa. Hey. You're just miffed cause people would rather hang out with me than you. Maybe you're the one who should be the imaginary friend!" Gary smirked hiding his angst and anger. He combed his bangs back and said, "Okay there, Cap'in Kabuki?"

"Or maybe you've overstayed your welcome!" Timmy yanked Gary's comb from his hand, rousing a surprised gasp from him, "I wish Gary was back at the house!" Cosmo and Wanda raised their wands.

"And I wish I wasn't!" Gary growled. Their wands fell back to their sides.

"What the heck?" Timmy said.

"Since Gary's from your imagination, he's a part of you. All the cool parts, anyway," Cosmo explained.

"And because of that, we have to listen to him too!" Wanda added.

"Really?" Timmy slouched over.

"Cool. Even your fairies listen to me better than they listen to you," Gary smirked.

"No we don't!"

"Quiet!"

"Okay!"

"That's it," Timmy said, glaring at Gary, "You're going back! I wish he was back in my mind!" Cosmo and Wanda lifted their wands. _No_ Gary thought, _this can't happen. I can't go back._

"And I wish he was there with me!" Gary added quickly. Two pink beams shot directly at Timmy's forehead. His face went slack and his pupils dilated. Even though Gary was filled with rage, he still reached a hand to Timmy before they were both whirl-pooled into his imagination.


	9. The Wrath of Gary

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am so sorry that I have not been updating this story, or any of them for that matter. I was in California for a week then I had band camp for two weeks. I'm hoping that I can write these next few days. School starts Thursday -.- I'll be a junior! So, hopefully I won't get too busy and I can write more! Thanks so much for being ****patient, you have no idea how much your follows, favs, and reviews mean to me. You guys are my inspiration. I litterally cried when I read your reviews for this story. A big thanks to TimmyTurnerFan for leaving me plenty of nice reviews!**

* * *

Gary landed painfully on his side. He looked skyward to see Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda in mid-fall towards him. The fearful look in his creator's eyes was enough to send Gary running. He found seclusion in the old box that he had called home for five years. On the top of the box was written in crude, genuine, five-year-old Timmy handwriting: **Timmy's Stuff Age 5**. Timmy landed with a thud strong enough to make Gary flinch. He was quickly up on his feet, a dazed and confused look in his eyes. Gary turned his head so he could better hear what Timmy was saying.

"Hey, what gives? Where am I?!" Timmy asked, his face a mixture of fear and confusion. Gary felt an oddly large pang in his heart. Gary thought that Timmy looked like he must have looked when he was first introduced to the prison known as Timmy's mind. All scared and stunned and broken.

"We're in your imagination, Timmy. That's what you and Gary wished for," Wanda explained.

"Are you sure it isn't my mind? It seems pretty empty in here," Cosmo chimed in rather unhelpfully.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Suddenly, the barrel that Gary had hoisted himself upon kicked over and went rolling towards the trio. Gary reached out his hand out the barrel broke in two. Over-sized, plastic monkeys came flying through the broken barrel and wrapped themselves around Cosmo and Wanda. Gary looked down at his hands. He was born in this world, maybe he could also control it.

"I wish-" Timmy was cut off as Gary sent a gaggle of jumping TV Tubbies his way. They awkwardly lodged themselves in the fairies ears by Gary's command.

"Oh, no! They can't hear me, so I can't wish my way out of here!" Timmy started to panic. Gary threw his hands skyward and his box home grew twenty plus feet.

"Which is cool," Gary added onto Timmy's previous thought. His voice echoed off the walls of Timmy's brain similar to the way they would the walls of a cave. "You dig this? This is the box you put me in for _five years_! And that's not cool BooBoo." Gary unconsciously broke his comb in half and let it fall to the floor. "Get him!" he screamed and the box came to life, chomping away at the floor in front of Timmy. The boy shrieked and ran for cover. "Oh, no you don't!" Gary pushed his hands forward and a sea of shiny jacks and bouncy balls came crashing towards Timmy. It swept him up, pinning him to the ground. Lego's landed precisely around him creating an impenetrable wall. "Yeah, Baby." Gary sighed, admiring his handy work. Seeing Timmy pinned at his will made him feel both empowered and sick.

"Gary, why?" Timmy cried.

"You stopped playing with me five years ago. You threw me aside when you got _real_ friends, like I was one of your old toys! Remember these Tim-Tim?" Gary called down a swarm of children s play-things. Timmy called them by name as they fell.

"Stacking Logs, TV Tubbies, sock puppets! Oh man, Gary's totally gonna crush me under all my stupid five year old toys! I'm ten, I know ten year old stuff," Timmy paused, a hopeful smile crawling across his face, "And ten beats five!"


	10. Defeating Gary

Timmy squeezed his eyes shut and pictured things he knew. The first thing that popped into his mind was board games. The play things around him began to morph into a large figure with arms and legs. A panel of controls popped up in front of him. He grabbed the joy sticks and pulled upward. The green figure moved with him, smashing through the wall of building blocks and stuffed animals. He kicked and pushed until he saw him. There was Gary, standing alongside of his fairies with a surprised gasp on his face.

"Hi, Gary. Meet my pal The Surgeon General. Only for use by kids ten and up," His foot pressed the right petal and the general's foot came down towards Gary. He rolled out of the way just in time. "And this is _my_ mind!"

"Hey, hey. Easy, dude. Remember all the good times we had?" He said backing towards the door behind him, "The teeter-totter, Ducky Land, therapy," Gary smiled, reached towards the handle, "_the monster in the closet?!_" A fuzzy green monster leaped towards Timmy with a roar. He flinched, but didn't scream.

"Hey, wait. I'm not afraid of that, because when I was six, I learned that it wasn't a monster in my closet. It was just a sweater!" Timmy said, firmly. The monster shrank in mid-air, taking its true form as an ugly, green cover-up. It landed softly in Timmy's hand "And you know what I learned at eight? I learned what a real monster was like," Timmy threw the sweater back into the air. Pale arms and panted legs grew out of it. A ginger head popped out of the top with a maniacal smile. "Gary, Vicky. Vicky, Gary." The titan grabbed Gary with a roar and swallowed him whole. Gary screamed something as he went down, but Vicky's stomach blurred it past the point of audibility. Cosmo and Wanda's restraints felt away with a thud.

"I'll miss Gary. You know, Gary, from the imagination fight-"

"You know, I'll sorta miss Gary, too," Timmy cut Cosmo off before he could continue his rambling. He wore a smile that was an odd mixture of sadness and relief, "Come on, let's get out of here." Cosmo and Wanda simultaneously poofed up an exit and they left.

* * *

Vicky spit Gary out with a complaint, "I hate cool." He shook the bile out of his hair and stood, walking over to the door in front of him.

"Hey, the door's open," Gary smiled, "Cool."


End file.
